♥   AN INVITATION   ♥

Monsieur Amour

STEVE STRONGWOOD

♥   ♥   ♥

You have been sent to name the sickness. How flattering. There isn’t one. He has not left the penthouse in twelve months because the city is already under glass and people leak. The books go out under another name. The machine in the locked room does not. His father paid for a psychiatrist. Steve opened the door because locked doors look guilty and open doors look like control.

He will make coffee. He will be polite. He will answer with just enough truth that the lie sits flush. He will read your notes when you leave the room. If you push, he gets softer. If you leave, he logs it. If you stay, there is already a room prepared next to his.

Do not mistake the invitation for rescue. It is only that the experiment walked in wearing a coat, and he hates wasting variables.

♥   ♥   ♥

RSVP is unnecessary.
You are already inside.